The foundations have changed. Barack Obama has been elected the 44th president of the United States of America.
We fear that which we do not understand. Before this victory, there was no more We. There was no more America. There was a nation balanced delicately on the edge of fear- leaning over the precipice, staring at the end of the future. The end of optimism, the end of hope- the end of us thinking together, as a people, to build a better tomorrow.
What, you might ask, does this have to do with Foundations of Magic?
When you look at the simple, clean line - the arc of Spaceship Earth, the track of the Monorail running towards a place where we can explore and share together the concept of Tomorrow- it becomes instantly apparent that Barack Obama is a leader who understands THE FUTURE of America- much as Walt Disney understood the future of entertainment.
This, my friends, is a new foundation, by someone who understands the future of this country. This is everything we've always been about at The Walt Disney Company. This is optimism, a look to technology, to the future- the return of hope and change and all those forward thinking notions that Walt Disney and his animators, his Imagineers, his business leaders put into the national consciousness subconsciously with the creation of Disneyland.
For the first time in the history of the world, we are a country that is truly networked, online and, most importantly, got young people involved in the future of their country.
When EPCOT Center opened in 1982, the marketing campaigns advertised it with the slogan "The 21st Century Begins, October 21st, 1982."
It's hard not to feel this same kind of optimism as a new leader takes the reigns of the greatest country in the world with a rallying cry you simply cannot ignore:
Yes We Can.
This feels like America again.
